


Start a Flame in Your Heart

by sartiebodyshots



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: F/F, Femslash February, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29426850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sartiebodyshots/pseuds/sartiebodyshots
Summary: Artemis wants to impress her huntresses... well, one huntress in particular.
Relationships: Artemis/Callisto (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	Start a Flame in Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kiden](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiden/gifts).



> Happy Valentines Day/Femslash February/etc!! 
> 
> Title from the Ink Spots song
> 
> Also @ supergiant games release the Callisto lore im begging u

Some gods and goddesses don't exist among their followers that often. They flit in and out here and there, but they rarely stick around for long or appear to the same follower for more than a passing fancy. 

This is not the case for Artemis and her followers. She lives among her huntresses as if she was one of them, except for her occasional absences to handle business on Olympus. 

"I have brought you gifts," Artemis says as she appears in the center of camp. 

In her arms there's a veritable bounty of rich nectar, bright fabrics, and fanciful jewelry. They seem not quite right for her huntresses, but these are the things that Apollo gives to his pretty men when he wants to impress them, and she would rather follow his lead than their uncles' examples. 

Her eyes look for one particular huntress. 

"My lady, I believe we are supposed to be the ones making offerings to you," Aura says. 

"And you do so! With, ah, your hunts and your bows," Artemis finishes lamely. 

Nikaia plucks a bottle of nectar from Artemis' bounty with a wink. "Cheers, boss!"

Her huntresses take the offered bounty gratefully. She notices that the nectar goes much more quickly than any of the other goods. She also notices that the huntress she most wanted to gift is nowhere to be seen. 

Some of the women have started playing music as the sun goes down and the moon starts to rise, the makings of a riotous party getting underway. It's funny- she had never thought much of the loud parties on Olympus, but she loves it when her huntresses make noise and dance. 

Artemis isn't one for dancing, herself, but she sits beside the fire with a sigh, arms now empty. It's great to watch them swirl gracefully in each other's arms. 

She hadn't managed to hang onto a bottle of nectar, so she's sadly sober as she watches the revelry around her. It's not unusual for her huntresses to take off for a few days alone or in a small group, so that one of them is missing isn't that surprising. However, it's still disappointing. 

* * *

Callisto sees her goddess sitting forlornly in the middle of the party. She's often just a little removed from the rest of them, given that she's their goddess, but she doesn't usually look so sad. 

"I know you don't dance, but maybe you should join the party!" Callisto says softly, landing beside her goddess a little harder than intended. "It doesn't seem right to have you sitting here looking so sad!"

Artemis perks up at her arrival. 

"Oh, I'm having a wonderful time!" Artemis reassures her. She nods towards the bottle of nectar in her hands. "I'm glad you got some of the nectar. It went quick!" 

"Yeah, Pholoe gave me the rest of hers. It's very good," Callisto says. "Thank you for bringing it." 

She takes a swig, enjoying the feeling of the nectar inside of her. It's warm, not in a temperature way, but in a way that warms her somewhere deep inside. The heat rises on her face, too, and she can't help but smile as she feels it run through her. 

Artemis is watching her, which only makes her warmer, and Callisto holds out the half empty bottle of nectar to her.

"Are you sure? You didn't get very much," Artemis says, face starting to turn red.

Callisto laughs, letting her head tilt back to enjoy the feeling of it. She presses the bottle into Artemis' hands. In the process of this, she notices that Artemis' hands are rough and callused from her bow; that her goddess would keep such a minor imperfection makes her stomach flipflop pleasantly.

Artemis takes the bottle at her insistence, and she takes a quick sip. The resulting smile is the most handsome sight that Callisto has ever seen. A few sips later, and Artemis is looking much more celebratory.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Callisto asks just as Artemis says, "I got you something!"

They stare at each other with blushing awkwardness until Callisto finally gestures at Artemis to continue. 

"I brought back gifts from Olympus for everyone to enjoy, and, uh, I wanted to make sure that you got something," Artemis says, speaking very fast. 

Artemis reaches into her pocket and pulls out a stack of silvery bangles. They're inscribed with various phases of the moons and little hunting bows, and Callisto can't help but smile as she puts them on. 

"They're pretty!" Callisto says. 

When she shakes her wrist to admire how they catch the firelight, the bangles jingle. It's a pretty sound, but Artemis frowns. 

"Oh drat! It'd scare away the deer," Artemis says.

Callisto gives her an easy grin. "Well then, I just won't wear them on the hunt. They're still pretty trinkets."

This doesn't seem to console her goddess, her frown only deepening. 

"There's nothing wrong with a pretty trinket, my lady," Callisto consoles her. 

Now Artemis is refusing to look at her, watching the dancing huntresses unhappily. It's slightly souring Callisto's mood, mostly because she doesn't want to be the cause of her goddess' upset. 

"I do wish that you would talk to me about what's bothering you," Callisto says, squeezing her arm. "It's a party! We should all be celebrating!" 

Artemis looks at where they're touching, and then her gaze travels up to Callisto's face. 

"I just... I wanted to give you something better than some trinket!" Artemis says before muttering to herself, "I should have known better than to follow Apollo's lead."

Callisto shakes her head slightly. "What does Apollo have to do with this?"

Her goddess turns bright red. "Nothing! Nothing!" 

"My lady, something is troubling you, and I want to know what it is," Callisto presses, releasing Artemis' arm. 

Artemis can't quite look at her, and for a moment, she looks less like a goddess and more like a young, uncertain woman from Callisto's home village. That Artemis is, at times, more approachable than some other deities is one of the first things that attracted her to worshiping Artemis. 

"I wanted to impress you," Artemis says after a moment, face bright red in a way that Callisto didn't realize a goddess' face could get. "And when Apollo wants to impress his men, he brings them pretty things!"

Callisto has heard rumors about what Apollo and his pretty men get up to when he brings them pretty things. It's an... intriguing prospect, particularly with the nectar already warming her. 

"And you wanted to impress all of us as Apollo impresses his men?" Callisto asks carefully. 

If so, she's not off to an awful start. Her fellow huntresses have been celebrating all night, dancing and singing, and they're starting to split off into to pairs and small groups to have more private celebrations. 

But Artemis hasn't gotten up to join the revelry, at least not that Callisto has seen, so she wonders if, perhaps, there was only one of them that she wanted to impress. 

Artemis looks at her, just for the briefest of moments, and Callisto can't puzzle out the look on her face. 

"Well, it was nice to do something for everyone, but there was one huntress in particular that I wanted to impress," Artemis says eventually.

Callisto grins at this admission. "Then go do something special for her!" 

"I'm not like my uncles!" Artemis protests. "I don't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable here, or like they have to reciprocate!" 

Callisto smiles at her reassuringly. "We're having a good time, so I'm not going to comment on your uncles and risk their wrath, but I think we all know what kind of goddess you are, my lady." 

"Thank you, Callisto. That's very reassuring," Artemis says with a smile. "Now, I don't want to keep you here when there is still a party going on."

"I think I'd like to stay, if you don't mind," Callisto says, stealing the bottle of nectar back. "Company here is great."

Artemis goes red again, and it makes Callisto's heart soar. She loves this. She loves her goddess. She loves her goddess.

"You sure?" Artemis asks, looking at her out of the corner of her eye as she goes back to enjoying the fire.

"I am," Callisto says, matching her posture.

Out of the corner of Callisto's eye, she sees a wide smile settle on Artemis' face. 

"Okay," Artemis says. "Okay." 

They sit by the fire quietly together, watching the huntresses enjoy their revel. At one point, Artemis shifts so her pinky finger is just barely brushing against her thigh, and that spot feels warm hours later.

* * *

Callisto expects to wake up on the log where she fell asleep, but instead she wakes up tucked into her bedroll. The sun is barely rising and the mist hangs lightly over their clearing. Unsurprisingly, most of the other huntresses are still asleep. 

Artemis is still up, or has woken up already. It's always hard to tell with the gods. They don't seem to need sleep, but Artemis does indulge at times. 

She's sitting, pensive, by the remains of the fire. Callisto is tempted to get up and join her, but Artemis hasn't noticed that she's awake yet. It's nice to have an opportunity to just watch her goddess. 

Artemis is lithe and graceful in a way that few are- including the gods. Callisto could spend all day watching her on the hunt, bringing down her prey and helping her carry it back home. She loves chasing after Artemis in the woods or, even better, the wide open fields. 

That this is her religion, chasing after the woman-goddess who has her heart, is a precious thing, she decides as her thoughts lead her back to sleep. A precious, precious thing. Very few across the stretches of time can say the same.

* * *

They break their camp down when the sun rises properly. The deer are on the move, so the hunt must move as well. 

"I thought about what you said last night," Artemis says, voice full of nerves. "About impressing the huntress."

Callisto leans against a tree with a grin on her face. "Oh, and what have you decided to do, then?" 

"Uh, huh, well! Callisto! Have you, ah, ever wanted to turn into a bear?" Artemis asks. She says the end of her sentence so quickly that Callisto has to take a moment to catch up. "Think that'd be more appropriate than some bauble, you know?"

When Callisto's brain catches up with Artemis' words and the meaning of the words she has said, she lights up. 

"Yes! And, uh, yes!" Callisto says. "Yes to both things!"

Her goddess takes a few steps forward, cupping Callisto's face between her rough hands. Warmth spreads through her, and she's not sure whether that's from the contact or from whatever divine boon Artemis is bequeathing her. 

A moment later, she grows taller and fur sprouts from her body. She catches herself on her arms and watches as wicked claws jut from her new paws. It seems like something that should hurt, but it's painless, and a moment later, she's a bear.

Callisto lets out a mighty roar as she prances around the camp, showing off her new bear form. The other huntresses cheer as she parades around and their voices rise to the heavens in joy.

After doing a few loops of the camp, Callisto makes her way back to Artemis. She stands on her hind legs, now dwarfing the goddess she loves, and rests her paws lightly on Artemis' shoulders.

She nuzzles the top of Artemis' head inhaling her scent. After just a moment of concentration, Callisto is a human once more, her hands still resting on Artemis' shoulders.

Artemis is beaming at her, smiling wider than Callisto has ever seen her, and Callisto can feel the matching smile spread on her face. Callisto's heart beats loudly, and the fact that everyone's eyes are on them doesn't seem to matter. 

"How was your gift?" Artemis asks quietly. 

"I love it," Callisto says. "But I wanted to be human again for just one thing."

Artemis raises a questioning eyebrow. 

Moving slowly, Callisto cups Artemis' perfect face between her hands. She presses her lips to her goddess' and kisses her softly. 

Artemis makes a noise of surprise that melts Callisto's heart. Her arms encircle Callisto securely, pulling her close. 

There are hoots and cheers from the huntresses watching them, and when they pull apart, both Artemis and Callisto are blushing. Artemis' arm is wrapped around Callisto's waist, keeping her close. 

"Okay! Okay! Everyone get back to packing up!" Artemis calls out. 

"You do know how to impress a woman," Callisto murmurs as the huntresses turn away. 

"I'm just real glad I didn't screw it up!" Artemis says with a note of incredulousness. 

Callisto nuzzles Artemis' cheek. "Don't think you could, with me." 

Artemis' face flames red and she sputters for a moment before Callisto kisses her cheek again. Her heart is so full in this moment. 

Callisto takes a step back with a smile still spread across her face. She concentrates for a moment and then she's a bear once more. 

Giving a great growl, she gestures towards her back, lowering herself before her goddess. 

Artemis scratches her behind the ears, affection apparent in her eyes. 

"Let's get going!" Artemis proclaims as she lands lightly on Callisto's back. 

Callisto leads the huntresses joyfully forward towards the next great adventure with the love of her life- her goddess, too. 

**Author's Note:**

> I thiiiink this should put me at over a million words posted on ao3 so like. heyo~


End file.
